Say Yes
by caramelsong
Summary: In which Percy searches for the perfect ring to propose with.


_First time writing for PJO, even though I've been reading this since I was twelve. Anyway, this was fun to write._

_::::_

After talking to Annabeth's parents and receiving their blessing to propose, the next thing on Percy's list was to actually get a ring to pop the question with.

Saving up for the ring wasn't too hard. He always knew he would eventually propose to Annabeth, so he started saving as early as their junior year in college. His part-time job at the aquarium in San Francisco helped plenty with the funds, and they were only too happy to give him extra shifts when he asked.

What he wasn't prepared for was actually going out and finding the ring.

First of all, who knew that there were so many things to consider? He didn't know there were so many kinds of shiny rocks you can put on a ring – there were diamonds, which everyone kind of knew by default, but there were also coloured stones like emeralds and rubies and whatever else they sell at those jewellery stores. At one store, the sales assistant brought out a selection that held stones in what seemed to be every colour known to man. Percy imagined he looked as confused as he felt, because the assistant started naming them and pointing out things like how durable they were and how rare. He caught maybe two names before he started zoning out, and that was before he started talking about cuts and clarity and he swore he heard the word "carrots" in there somewhere. After that he was asked what kind of metal he was looking at for the band, and also something called a "setting"? Were rings automatons now too?

The sheer amount of choices made his head spin. He knew Annabeth would like anything he'd give her, but he wanted it to be _perfect_. She deserved nothing less.

At another store, he asked about a greenish-blue stone and got the shock of his life when they told him how much it cost. It had as many digits as a Manhattan zip code, and the thought of Annabeth's reaction to him spending that much money on a sparkly rock made him feign disinterest immediately.

Annabeth hardly wore jewellery. He knew he wanted to give her something special, and something that would suit her, but he doesn't even know if she preferred gold or white gold. Or rose gold, because apparently that's a thing now?

Finally, in desperation, he decided to call the big guns. And by that, he meant his mother.

Thankfully, she was nice enough not to laugh at her son's inability to pick out a ring for his girlfriend. Her own proposal ring was simple, a small diamond on a white gold band.

They decided to go shopping on a weekday over the winter holiday, while Annabeth was busy working on a school project and Paul was free to look after Estelle. Having exhausted most of the shops nearby, Sally and Percy ventured a bit further and headed to Brooklyn.

There was a pretty large sapphire-and-diamond ring that caught his eye at the second store they went to, but it didn't feel right. He just couldn't imagine Annabeth wearing something like it. There was also a teardrop-shaped diamond ("Pear," his mom told him when he mentioned the 'teardrop' thing. "It's called a pear cut, sweetheart.") set in a simple gold band that looked dainty and practical, but it wasn't quite perfect either.

The sixth shop had a limited selection of rings on hand. They deal mostly with custom orders, the sales assistant said, but added that they were free to look around and let her know if they found something they liked. Most of their display looked a little too out there – there were large rings with big gaudy stones in art deco designs, some that looked like it was carved out of crystal and even one that was shaped like a slithering snake, encrusted in diamond and a black kind of gemstone Percy didn't know the name of.

Nothing there, either. He stared dejectedly at the glass display. It's been hours since they started looking, and they were running out of options.

"Don't worry, Percy, we'll go to another store," his mom said sympathetically.

"Yeah…" Percy turned away, idly looking at an assortment of loose stones in the neighbouring display cabinet. Then he spotted it in one of the lower rows – a round-shaped gem in an unusual shade of blue. From the top it looked greyish-blue, but when he leaned closer, he could see hints of green in the places where it's hit by the light. It didn't look like any other blue gem he'd seen so far – it looked subtler than a sapphire, which were usually bright blue, and deeper in colour than an aquamarine.

(All that relentless searching left him with a bit of knowledge.)

"Excuse me," he called out. The woman behind the counter looked up from the golden cufflinks she was polishing and smiled as she got up. She set the cufflinks on a velvet-lined box and tucked it under the table before making her way to him.

"Yes?"

"Can I see that stone?" Percy pointed it out. "That round blue one."

"Of course," she said, opening the glass case. She put on a pair of white gloves, then carefully lifted the stone from its display and set it on a black box – the same kind she used for the cufflinks earlier – for him to see.

"Is it okay if I picked it up?"

"Yes, please go ahead." The woman handed the stone over. It wasn't too big, maybe three-quarters of a centimetre across. Without the dark fabric as background, it looked even better. Different shades showed up in different angles. From the top it looked a bit darker, but the green was really visible when you look at it from the sides. "This is called an Indicolite tourmaline," she explained as Percy scrutinised the stone. "It's a kind of semi-precious stone, so it's not as expensive or well-known as your sapphires and diamonds. It comes in a whole variety of colours. This one is particularly interesting, isn't it? It's also eye-clean–"

"It's what?" he asked distractedly.

"Eye-clean, that means you can't see defects on it." The woman was smiling. "You have a pretty good eye," she told Percy. "That one's been there for a while. Few people notice it."

"Maybe it's been waiting for the right person to buy it." Sally appeared beside him, and Percy showed it to her. "It's lovely, dear."

"I think it's perfect." Percy couldn't stop grinning. After what felt like forever, he finally found one he liked. He looked at the woman. "How much is this?"

"Proposing?"

He nodded.

"Well, you'll still need to get this set on a band afterwards," she told him. "And it _has_ been here a while, so we're kind of eager to finally sell it off. Tell you what, I'll give you a bit of a discount. I'll give it to you for $350."

"Really?" That was a lot lower than the last price quoted to him. By a lot.

"Really," she said. "You're doing us a favour. I thought that thing will never get sold. Are you looking to have that ring made? We can do it in-house."

Percy considered for a moment. "That's okay," he said, smiling apologetically. "I think I'll get someone I know to do it."

"That's okay." The woman didn't look upset, or annoyed. "Just the tourmaline, then?"

"Yes, please." Percy took out his wallet and pulled out four hundred-dollar bills. "Thank you so much," he said. "You have no idea how long we've been looking."

The woman accepted the cash. "She's a lucky girl," she said kindly. "Please wait here, I'll just ring this up and wrap it."

"I can't believe it." Percy turned to his mom gleefully as the woman went to ring the purchase up. "We actually found one!"

"Annabeth's going to love it." His mom said it like a statement, or a fact.

He let out a nervous laugh. "I sure hope so. Don't most people spend a little more than this on an engagement ring?"

"I know Annabeth won't care how much it costs," Sally insisted. "And she's too practical to want anything more expensive. I'm sure she'd rather you put it down to prepare for that dream house she's always talking about."

"You don't think I'm jumping too fast on this?" Percy asked her quietly. "I mean, we're still just about to graduate, but –"

"Do you think the time is right?"

"I don't know about the time being right," he answered thoughtfully. "But I was sure I would eventually propose to Annabeth, probably since we were seventeen. I just didn't want to freak her out too much."

Sally reached up to brush his hair off his forehead. "Well, you always had good instincts. I say follow them."

Before Percy could respond, the assistant returned with a small paper bag and his change. "Thank you so much. And good luck with the proposal!"

"Thanks," he said. The way she said "proposal" made blood rush to his cheeks. Oh, gods. This is really happening now. That little box felt really heavy in its tiny paper bag.

They walked out of the shop and into the frigid cold. "So," Sally said, slipping her hands into gloves and readjusting her bag on her shoulder. "You've got a gemstone. There's still the actual ring to think about."

"Yup," Percy replied, popping his "p". "Think Tyson would be up to make it for me?"

"I think Tyson would love that." Sally started walking back to the Prius, which was parked at a meter across the street from the shop. "Are you getting that ring made with Celestial bronze?"

"Yeah, I was thinking of that." Percy looked both sides to make sure there was no incoming car before they crossed. He unlocked the car and slipped into the driver's seat before handing the paper bag over to his mom. "Actually, I was playing around with an idea."

_:::_

The day before they were due to head back to California, Percy took Annabeth for an afternoon picnic at the canoe lake in Camp Half-Blood. When he asked, she raised her eyebrow at him and asked if he was insane – it was freezing cold outside – but she allowed herself to be dragged along anyway. Bundled in heavy coats and thermals, they made their way to the docks, carrying blankets and a picnic basket.

The ring, safely in a box tucked into his coat's inner pocket, felt heavy. There were so many scenarios on Percy's head. She could say they were too young, that it was too early to be engaged. He could drop the ring into the lake out of nerves. A snowstorm might suddenly descend on them and ruin the entire set-up he's been building up for the last week.

What if he's terribly misjudged their situation and he scares her away?

"Percy?" Annabeth was looking at him, her eyebrows knitted together. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he replied, a little too quickly. Thankfully, she left it at that.

Annabeth set down two blankets on the ground and positioned the picnic basket in the middle. "So," she said, sitting down while Percy opened the basket. They packed fresh strawberries covered in chocolate, two thermoses of hot cocoa and a couple of paninis, which were quickly getting cold. "Is there a particular reason why we're doing this? Don't tell me you decided to have a picnic in the middle of January just for the heck of it."

He shrugged in a way that he hoped looked casual. "Can't I just take my girlfriend for a nice picnic lunch once in a while? When the weather's this pretty?"

"Pretty?" she repeated, laughing. She opened one thermos and blew lightly at the steam that erupted out of it before taking a tentative sip. Annabeth had a problem with food and drinks that were too hot. She liked to complain that they burn her tongue. That cocoa must have been fine, though, because she took a longer sip afterwards.

"Yeah, but you're prettier."

"Oh, you're such a sap." Despite her complains that it was too cold, she looked content as she watches the sun set over the lake. In the orange light, her blond curls almost looked like gold threads blowing in the breeze.

The sight made Percy's heart skip a beat. "Annabeth?"

She was drinking her cocoa, but she responded with a small humming noise to indicate she was listening.

Percy's throat suddenly felt like it closed up. Great. All the things he thought about saying, all that rehearsing in his head and in his bedroom in front of Annabeth's photo and for what?

Her grey eyes were fixed on him, which made him even more nervous. Those eyes always gave him the impression that she could read his every thought. When he didn't say anything, she inched closer and set her thermos down in front of her. "You have something to tell me?" she asked.

Maybe it was the nerves, or the emotions threatening to explode out of his chest. Maybe it was the stupid sunset that made everything around them look like a cheesy romantic movie.

Whatever it was, the first words out of Percy's mouth when he finally found his voice were "Will you marry me?"

Annabeth's eyes widened. "What?"

"I said…" Percy swallowed heavily. Now that it's out, there's no turning back. "Will you marry me, Annabeth?"

"You're really proposing?" There was a smile playing at her lips when she asked it. Somehow the fact that she was still there, smiling and hearing him out, gave him the courage to continue talking. The worst that could happen now is she'll let him down easy. At least she didn't run off.

"Well, yeah," he answered, taking her hands in his and looking her in the eye. "I know we're kind of young. And I don't know a lot of things, but I'm absolutely sure I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

She held his gaze for a moment, like she was trying to process what he just said. Then she let out a sound, something halfway between a sob and a laugh, and withdrew her hand to cover her mouth like she wanted to keep it in. It wasn't very effective, because a minute later, tears were falling down her cheeks.

"Hey," he said quickly, moving to close the gap between them. "I didn't mean to put you on the spot or something. I swear I planned on kneeling and everything –"

"No!" she cut him off, laughing and crying at the same time. "I was just – oh gods, Percy! I was just surprised, that's all."

"So, is that a no?"

"What?" Annabeth looked incredulously at him, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her coat. "Are you insane? Do you have any idea how happy that made me?"

Hope bloomed in his chest. "Say yes, and maybe I'll have an idea," he told her.

The sound of Annabeth's laugh in response to that quickly became his favourite sound in the world. "Of course, I will, Seaweed Brain," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder and pulling him closer so their foreheads touched.

"Yeah?" He could barely contain the joy in his voice.

"Yeah."

Grinning madly, Percy got to his feet and pulled Annabeth up. He got down on one knee and pulled out the box from inside his coat. "I guess this belongs to you now."

The look on Annabeth's face when he opened the box made the whole search worth it. "Percy… that's beautiful," she said, looking like she was going to start crying again when Percy took out the ring and slipped it into her finger.

"Thank Hephaestus, it fits," he said as he got up. Tyson did a great job on the ring. The gem Percy bought with his mom was set in the middle of a Celestial bronze band, flanked on each side by three intricately crafted olive leaves.

"Is this Celestial bronze?" Annabeth ran a finger along the smooth metal surface. "Did you have this made?"

"I did," he confessed. "I couldn't find a ring that felt right for you. But I found that gem at one store, and I thought it might remind you of me. So I got Tyson to make the ring, and I asked him to add the olive leaves in there for you, too. The Celestial bronze… I got it from your dad."

"My dad?"

"Well, yeah." Percy straightened up, still holding Annabeth's hand. Suddenly, he felt self-conscious, but he kept talking. "I thought… remember when we rescued you from Mount Tam, and he said you left some weapons in his place? I called him up and asked him if he still had them. He sent some of them to me and I had them melted down for your ring. I mean, I know they were from a bad time, I just thought it would be good to have them repurposed for something happy, you know?"

"Oh." Annabeth bit her lip and for a second Percy was worried she may not like the idea of having a ring made out of weapons she owned during a difficult time in her life. But then she wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed him again. "That was very thoughtful. And I love it, I really do," she said.

"Oh, thank the gods, I was really nervous about it."

She raised an eyebrow playfully. "Did you think I would say no?"

"I don't know!" He laughed. All his worries seemed silly now that it's behind them, but they've been really tugging at the back of his mind all this time. "I thought maybe you'd think this is too soon, or you suddenly decided you're not the marrying type or something."

"Well, I don't plan on getting married at least until next year," she mused, sitting back down on the blanket. Percy positioned himself so that he's behind her, his arms snaking around her waist. He rested his chin on her shoulder and she played idly with his hands while she talked. "We're graduating this year, but then we have to move back to New York, and then we need to find a place to live. Oh, and don't forget we still have job applications to think about –"

"Got it." Percy would have agreed to anything she said, he was so happy. "Maybe next summer?"

"Next summer sounds good, it gives us more than a year to plan. Where are we going to have it? Are we going to get married on the beach?"

As usual, Annabeth's planning ahead. The stupid grin hadn't left Percy's face since she told him she'd marry him, and his face muscles were starting to hurt, but that's a tomorrow problem. "That's an option?" He looked at her to see if she was kidding, but she had her serious planning face on.

"Yeah, you want to?"

"Do I have to wear a suit?"

She considered for a moment. "Yes. And no, a bathing suit doesn't count."

"I can live with that," he said. "You're lucky I love you. I won't wear a suit for just _anyone._"

"I am," she agreed. The way she said it made Percy's heart do somersaults. "I love you, Percy."

"You realize you're stuck with me forever now, Wise Girl?" he teased.

Annabeth turned to kiss him again. "Sounds good to me."


End file.
